Your top performer on the team left without warning. You thought everything was going well. They had stellar performance reviews and did an excellent job of managing their team, so what happened?
To gain valuable insights you need, you should utilize stay interviews. By the time an employee has turned into their two week’s notice, it’s too late. A stay interview is a critical step in your employee retention strategy. Below, we go over what a stay interview is and how to use them to create a workplace where employees thrive.
What Is a Stay Interview?
Unlike exit interviews, which are conducted when an employee leaves, a stay interview is conducted with current employees. Specifically, you meet with an employee who has good performance to ask them questions about what they like about the company, their role, or possible areas for improvement.
The Benefits of Stay Interviews
You don’t want to wait until an employee is leaving to ask them for feedback. By conducting stay interviews, you can gain insights into what makes employees excited to work for your company or what parts of their role they enjoy. In addition, you can also uncover potential areas for improvement. For example, maybe you hear repeatedly that employees would prefer remote work vs a hybrid situation.
You can use these insights to proactively implement policies or strategies to retain employees, which is easier than hiring someone new. In the example above, you might create a policy that gives employees the option to work remotely. This could decrease the number of employees browsing job boards on their lunch breaks.
Tips for Stay Interviews
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Now that you know what stay interviews are, and why they are important, how do you go about conducting them? Below are a few best practices for stay interviews.
Choose the Right Person
Before you schedule stay interviews, choose the appropriate person to conduct the interview. Likewise, make sure you choose the right candidates. You want to choose someone who is performing well in their job, not just doing the bare minimum or barely scraping by performance-wise.
Ask Thoughtful Questions
Make sure you ask thoughtful questions that yield critical insights. Ideally, avoid “yes” or “no” questions so you can get the critical information you need to address reasons for turnover. Some open-ended questions you could ask in stay interviews include:
- What do you like about working at the company?
- How would you rate your work-life balance? Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
- Do you feel like your contributions are recognized by management? Why or why not?
- What can we do to make your work experience better?
Commit to Making Improvements
Don’t get defensive about employees’ responses. Remember, the whole purpose of the stay interview is to gain critical insights into how you can improve as a company. This information is crucial to employee retention.
Once you receive feedback from employees, look for overlap. Is there a theme that pops up repeatedly? Ask yourself what you (and other key leadership) can do to implement necessary changes. It’s always better to get these insights now so you can make improvements before an employee is halfway out the door.
Improve Your Employee Retention With Stay Interviews
Stay interviews are a critical part of employee retention. By asking employees the right questions, you can gain the insights you need to improve your work environment and make your company a destination workplace.
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